Robert Goddard - Sight Unseen

'You've always lived here?'

'Well, we used to live in the village proper, of course. But our cottage was pulled down and we were moved over here when Percy and I were children.'

"The Nevinsons go back a long way in these parts, do they?'

'No. But the Bates do. My mother's side of the family. Did, I should say. There are none left round here now.'

'Except you and Percy.'

'Except us.'

'Last of the line.'

'It's turned out that way, yes.'

'Did you ever think of…'

'Marrying? I've had offers in my time, Chief Inspector, I can tell you. None I cared to accept, though. Besides…'

'There was always Percy to look after.'

Abigail bridled faintly at that. It seemed to Umber that she had suddenly realized she was being drawn in a direction she did not wish to take. 'Will you be… speaking to everyone involved in the tragedy?' she asked with conspicuous deliberation.

' If they'll speak to us,' Sharp replied.

"The Halls got divorced, you know.'

'I did know, yes.'

'Mrs Hall – Mrs Questred as is – still lives locally.'

'Do you happen to know where?'

'Over near Ramsbury. It's a picture-postcard house at the bottom of Hilldrop Lane. Swanpool Cottage. Not really what you'd expect her to make do with, pretty or no, but there it is. Her husband keeps a wine shop in Marlborough, so I suppose it's handy, though how she can bear to stick so close to Avebury I don't rightly know.'

'You think she should live somewhere… grander?'

'Well, she did live somewhere grander when she was married to Mr Hall, didn't she? And I suppose he'll have had to pay her a goodly sum to settle the divorce.'

'Do you ever see her?'

'In Marlborough, from time to time. Shopping and such. She doesn't know me, of course.'

'But she'd know Percy?'

'I suppose so. But I'm not sure she'd show it.'

'Maybe she's trying to put it all behind her,' suggested Umber, to an irritated frown from Sharp.

'Maybe she is,' said Abigail. 'No-one could blame her for that.'

'No,' said Umber. 'No-one could.'

Percy Nevinson had still not returned when, half an hour later, Umber and Sharp took their leave. Abigail had noted down Umber's mobile number and assured them she would ask her brother to ring them as soon as possible.

'I'll thank you not to undermine my questioning of suspects in future,' Sharp complained as soon as they were clear of the estate.

'Abigail's hardly a suspect,' said Umber.

'You know what I mean.'

'You were pressing too hard, George. Do you want Percy on the defensive before you even speak to him?'

'I have a feeling he'll be on the defensive anyway. His sister's hiding something. Which means he's hiding something.'

'You don't know that.'

'I sense it. In this game, that's as good as knowing. If not better.'

'If you say so.'

'How many murders have you investigated, Umber?'

'Come off it, George.'

'How many?'

Umber sighed. 'None, of course.'

Sharp nodded. 'Exactly.' And with that he quickened his pace.

Neither Sharp nor Umber looked much about them during this spat. As a result, they did not notice the figure in the telephone box at the corner of the lane that led them down to the footpath back to Avebury. He was a short, tubby man dressed in hiking boots, pale-green corduroy trousers and a faded brown anorak. The brim of a dark-green Tilley hat, worn low, obscured his features. He had his back turned as they passed and appeared as oblivious of them as they were of him.

He shifted his stance once they had reached the footpath, however, and could hardly have failed to see them as they moved ahead. A moment later, he put the telephone down, exited the box and headed into the estate, moving at an anxious clip.

'Where are we going now, George?' Umber asked as they drove out of Avebury past the surviving stones of an ancient avenue that led south from the circle.

'Worried I'll go straight to Swanpool Cottage and antagonize Jane Questred, are you?' Sharp responded.

'Well…'

'Credit me with some sensitivity, Umber. I let her down twenty-three years ago. Badly. If she wrote me that letter, I could hardly complain. Doorstepping her on a Monday morning isn't the way to break the ice. Besides, Abigail only gave us her address to get us off Percy's case. I don't like being manipulated.'

'So, what's the plan?'

'We'll drop in on Edmund Questred's wine shop and ask him – ever so politely – if his wife will talk to us.'

'And if the answer's no?'

'It won't be.' There was the briefest of pauses before he added, 'Unless she's hiding something as well.'

Marlborough was much as Umber remembered it. A gently curving High Street wide enough to turn a coach and four in was flanked by handsome buildings of several eras, mostly in brick, housing a genteel assortment of shops and cafes. They drove in past the teaching blocks and playing fields of Marlborough College, scanned for a parking space – and found one in the centre of the High Street. Almost exactly opposite them, Umber noticed, was the arcaded, tile-hung frontage of the Kennet Valley Wine Company. And Sharp had noticed it as well.

'You a wine buff, Umber?' he asked.

'Not really.'

'Nor me. More's the pity.' Sharp clicked his tongue. 'We'll just have to play it straight down the line.'

A bell rang as they entered the shop. From an office at the rear, behind the counter, a tall, thin man with wiry grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard emerged, stooping to clear the lintel. He wore a soulful expression, his face set in lugubrious, bloodhound folds, and seemed instantly to sense that they were not there to buy wine, as their conspicuous failure even to glance at the ample array of middle-of-the-road whites and reds only confirmed.

'Mr Questred?' Sharp enquired.

'Yes,' Questred replied, cautiously.

'This is going to come as a bit of a surprise. My name's George Sharp. And my friend here… is David Umber.'

A surprise it certainly should have been. But Umber felt, as Sharp's explanation of their visit proceeded, that it was a surprise Questred had somehow anticipated, even if only subconsciously. He seemed more disappointed than dismayed, as if they were fulfilling some gloomy presentiment that he only now recalled. When Sharp had finished, Questred went to the door, flicked the sign round to read CLOSED and slipped a bolt across to ensure they were not interrupted. Momentarily, he rested his forehead against the door frame. And then he sighed.

'We're sorry about this, Mr Questred,' said Sharp. 'If I could find a different way to -'

'You want to speak to Jane.' Questred turned to face them. 'You want to go over the same old ground again with her.'

'Just a few questions. That's all.'

'All? I doubt you have any conception of what all really covers for her. She hasn't got over it, you know. She never will. But she's learned how to survive it.'

'I'm sure you've been a big factor in that, Mr Questred.'

'I'd like to think so. I didn't know Miranda or Tamsin. Or Jane while she still had them. We have a daughter of our own now. We're happy. We have a good life. Jane doesn't need any reminders of the life she used to lead.'

'She's moved on.'

'If you want to put it like that.'

'Except she hasn't moved on,' put in Umber. 'I mean, not physically. She still lives in the area.'

'My business is here.'

'You could have relocated.'

Questred looked narrowly at Umber, as if paying him more attention than he had so far. 'She didn't want me to. She doesn't run away from things.'